Computing system deployment method

ABSTRACT

Conventional computing systems today, for example enterprise applications, possess multi-tier architectures. Management of the computing systems to maintain architectural system onto which the computing systems are deployed onto, is critical for providing availability of business services to users. When components of a computing system or computing system are moved between two host systems, there is a need to reconfigure a previously configured host system. Thus, the deployment requires complicated procedures that requires specialized training in the computing system being installed as system integrity has to be preserved at all times. Furthermore, a computing system will undergo further component replacements, enhancements and expansion in scale once it becomes operational within the system. Keeping the dependencies and the integrity of a large scale host system becomes problematic as different components of the computing systems are provided by different vendors. Furthermore, the maintenance of inter-connected host systems, computing systems or its components needs to be performed by an administrator who is deploying the systems or computing systems. An embodiment of the invention addresses the foregoing issues by introducing layers and clusters for segregating components of the computing system based on their functionality and services provided respective components. Associations between components are registered in profiles to facilitate dependency tracking. The model provided by the embodiment of the invention allows for structured deployment of the computing system onto a host system. The profiles further facilitate migration of the computing system and its associated components onto another host system without compromising host system integrity.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a computing system deploymentmethod. In particular, the invention relates to a computing systemdeployment method for deploying and migrating computing systemcomponents.

BACKGROUND

Conventional computing systems, for example enterprise applications,typically possess multi-tier architectures. Unlike standalone computingsystems in the past, such computing systems provide specializedsolutions catering to different business aspects within an organizationor across geographically distant installations. The elaborate structureof these computing systems gives rise to a vast quantity ofheterogeneous back-end computing.

Management of the computing systems in order to maintain architecturalintegrity and performance of the computing systems is critical forproviding availability of business services to users, for examplecustomers.

The aspects of the computing systems typically requiring managementincludes the deployment and configuration of computing system services,system functionality diagnosis, maintaining the integrity of componentdependencies within a computing system and the monitoring and balancingof computing system component loading for improving computing systemperformance.

In the course of managing the computing systems, a situation requiringcomponents of a computing system to be moved between two host systemsresiding at different locations may arise. Alternatively, new resourcesmay be made available to the host system within which the computingsystems reside in. In both these situations, there is a need toreconfigure a previously configured host system. In most cases, thedeployment of a computing system or its components requires complicatedprocedures that requires specialized training in the computing systembeing installed as system integrity of the host system has to bepreserved at all times.

A computing system typically undergoes several configuration changes anda few versions of its associated components in the course of its life.Once a computing system is deployed within a host system and becomesoperational, it will undergo further component replacements,enhancements and expansion in scale.

Maintaining the dependencies and the integrity of a large-scalecomputing system becomes problematic as different components of thecomputing system are typically provided by different vendors.Furthermore, maintenance of inter-connected host systems, computingsystems or its components needs to be performed by an administrator whois deploying the computing system. In such a situation, the dependenciesand inter-connection requirements are provided to the administrator inthe form of instructional manuals. Further knowledge of the requirementsand limitations of each host system, computing system or its componentsis dependant on the experience and tacit capability of theadministrator.

It is therefore desirable to have a common way of capturing orspecifying all these information in a structured way, so that thediscovery of dependencies can be automated.

A conventional method of deploying a computing system is to remove acomputing system from its current deployed location and to deploy a copyof the computing system in its new environment. The dynamic contentsgenerated during the lifetime of the computing system in its previouslocation would be manually copied to the new location. This will requirethe presence of an expert of the computing system to be deployed. Theextent of the expert's contribution is to make the necessary changes toallow the system or computing system to function. This however, does notestablish compatibility of the computing system with other deployedcomputing systems. As a result, this may expose the host system tointegrity loss.

Another method requires the utilising of a group of experts, for examplecomputing system integrators, to work out a plan for migrating ordeploying multi-vendor computing systems and components. Fundamentally,this method is similar to the mentioned method. These methods requireexperts to oversee and manage the deployment or migration process,leading to high cost, high consumption of time and effort andpossibility of future deployment error.

Hence, this clearly affirms a need for a computing system deploymentmethod for migrating and deploying applications and its components.

SUMMARY

Therefore, in accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there isdisclosed a computing system deployment method comprising the steps of:

-   -   providing a system layer on a host system;    -   defining a plurality of system clusters in the system layer;    -   allocating a plurality of system components into the plurality        of system clusters, each system cluster containing one or more        system components;    -   providing a service layer on the host system;    -   defining a plurality of service clusters in the service layer;    -   allocating a plurality of service components into the plurality        of service clusters, each service cluster containing one or more        system components; and    -   associating each service component in each service cluster with        one or more system components.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is discloseda computing system deployment model comprising:

-   -   a system layer provided on a host system;    -   a plurality of system clusters defined in the system layer;    -   a plurality of system components allocated into the plurality of        system clusters, each system cluster containing one or more        system components;    -   a service layer provided on the host system;    -   a plurality of service clusters defined in the service layer;        and    -   a plurality of service components allocated into the plurality        of service clusters, each service cluster containing one or more        system components,    -   wherein each service component in each service cluster is        associated with one or more system components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention are described hereinafter with reference tothe following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram representing a host system containing aservice layer, a system layer, a resource layer, a resource map and aservice map;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram representing the service layer of FIG. 1with a plurality of service components grouped in service clusters;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram representing the system layer of FIG. 1with a plurality of system components grouped in system clusters;

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram representing the system layer of FIG. 1with a plurality of resource components grouped in resource clusters;

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram representing a service profile associatedwith each service component of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram representing a system profile associatedwith each system component of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram representing a resource profile associatedwith each resource component of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram representing a cluster profile associatedwith the service cluster of FIG. 2, the system cluster of FIG. 3, andthe resource cluster of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram representing the resource map of FIG. 1;and

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram representing the service map of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A computing system deployment method for addressing the foregoingproblems is described hereinafter.

An embodiment of the invention, a computing system deployment method(not shown) is described with reference to FIG. 1, which shows a blockdiagram representing a host system 20.

The computing system deployment method is preferably for deploying acomputing system onto the host system 20, the host system beingcomputer-based and typically comprising a plurality of geographicallydispersed sub-systems. A plurality of components, hardware and software,resides within the host system 20. These components are organised intoone of service layer 30, system layer 32 and resource layer 34 withinthe host system 20 as shown in FIG. 1.

The service layer 30 contains a plurality of service components 36 asshown in FIG. 2. These service components 36 may or may not be suppliedby the vendor of the computing system. In the service layer 30, theservice components 36 are grouped into service clusters 38. Each servicecluster 38 contains service components 36 relating to the computingsystem. The service components 36 contained in the service layer 30provide for one or more of application-specific, vendor-specific ordomain-specific services which include providing service-relatedcontents, for example, web-contents and user account data.

FIG. 3 shows a plurality of system components 40 being allocated to thesystem layer 32. These system components 40 comprises software systemresources, for example, servers and system libraries, and are forproviding computing system based resources and services to othercomponents within the host system 20. These system components 40include, for example, DNS servers, FTP servers, system libraries, filesystems, Windows registries and key repositories. In the system layer32, the system components 40 are grouped into system clusters 42 basedon the function of each system component 40.

Allocated in the resource layer 34 are resource components 44 as shownin FIG. 4. Each resource component 44 represents physical hardware thatis associated with a computing node or a virtual device representing thephysical hardware. Examples of hardware represented by resourcecomponents 44 include computing servers, network cards, hard disks,memory modules, firewalls, routers and switches. These resourcecomponents 44 are grouped into resource clusters 46 in the resourcelayer 34. Each resource cluster 46 contains resource components 44having similar functions. The resource clusters 46 include, for example,a firewall cluster, a network router cluster, a network switch cluster,a computing server cluster and a storage cluster.

The service components 36, the system components 40, and the resourcecomponents 44 corresponding to and being grouped within the servicecluster 38, the system cluster 42 and the resource cluster 46, can befurther grouped into sub-clusters (not shown). For example, the servicecomponents 36 within a service cluster 38 are further grouped intosub-clusters based on domain requirements, with each sub-cluster ofservice components 36 providing service support to other servicecomponents 36 within a particular domain.

Associated with each service component 36 is a service profile 48 asshown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 5, which shows a block diagramrepresenting the service profile 48 associated with each servicecomponent 36, the service profile 48 contains a description 50 of theservice component 36, a list of association requirements 52 indicatingsystem components 40 required for associating with the service component36, and a list of association restrictions 54 indicating othercomponents, for example the service components 36, that are in conflictwith and have been prohibited from accessing the service component 36that the service profile 48 is associated with.

The service profile 48 further contains a list of access controls 56specifying the ability of a service component 36 contained in anotherservice cluster 38 to access the service component 36 with which theservice profile 48 is associated therewith and vice-versa. The accesscontrols 56 are conventionally provided by the vendors of the servicecomponents 36 to avoid association of the service components 36 suppliedby one vendor from accessing or being accessed by service components 36supplied by another vendor.

A system profile 58 is associated with each system component 40 as shownin FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 6, which shows a block diagram representingthe system profile 58 associated with each system component 40, thesystem profile 58 contains a description 60 of the system component 40,a list of association requirements 62 indicating the association of eachsystem component with other resource components 44 and other systemcomponents 40 for association therewith, a list of associationrestrictions 64 indicating other components, for example the resourcecomponents 44 and other system components 40, that are in conflict withand have been prohibited from accessing the system component 40 that thesystem profile 58 is associated therewith.

The system profile 58 further contains a list of access controls 66specifying the ability of the resource components 44 or systemcomponents 40 contained in another system cluster 42 to access thesystem components 40 with which the system profile 58 is associated andvice-versa. The access controls 66 are conventionally provided by thevendors of the system components 40 to avoid association of the systemcomponents 40 supplied by one vendor from accessing or being accessed bysystem components 40 supplied by another vendor.

A resource profile 70 is associated with each resource component 44 asshown in FIG. 7. Referring to FIG. 7, which shows a block diagramrepresenting the resource profile 70 associated with each resourcecomponent 44, the resource profile 70 contains a description 72 of theresource component 44, a list of association requirements 74 indicatingthe association of one resource component 44 with other resourcecomponents 44 for association with, and a list of associationrestrictions 76 indicating other resource components 44 prohibited fromassociating with the resource component 44 associated with the resourceprofile 70.

The resource profile 70 further contains a list of access controls 78specifying the ability of a resource component 44 contained in anotherresource cluster 70 to access the resource component 44 with which theresource profile 70 is associated therewith and vice-versa. The accesscontrols 78 are conventionally provided by the vendors of the resourcecomponents 70 to avoid association of the resource components 44supplied by one vendor from accessing or being accessed by resourcecomponents 44 supplied by another vendor.

Each of the service profiles 48, system profiles 58 and resourceprofiles 70 contains one of application-specific, vendor-specific ordomain-specific data (not shown) for facilitating customisation of thecomputing system deployment method. Preferably, each of the serviceprofiles 48, system profiles 58 and resource profiles 70 furthercontains a profile security envelope (not shown) for protecting thecontents of the service profiles 48, system profiles 58 and resourceprofiles 70 from unauthorised access thereto. Access to the contents ofthe service profiles 48, system profiles 58 and resource profiles 70 ispermitted only when a valid authentication (not shown) is provided inaccordance to the profile security envelope. The profile securityenvelope further facilitates implementation of access policies fordifferent users.

The corresponding association restrictions 54/64/76 of each of theservice profile 48, system profile 58 and resource profile 70 furtherprovide information on potential and known conflicts. The information onthe conflicts allows the conflicts to be properly managed or alleviatedduring the deployment of the computing system.

The corresponding access controls 56/66/78 of each of the serviceprofile 48, system profile 58 and resource profile 70 may be utilisedfor marketing, political, security or operational reasons. The accesscontrols 56/66/78 allows for further policies on access and associationsto be provided therein.

Further specified in each of the service profile 48, system profile 58and resource profile 70 is a list of corresponding contractspecification 57 a/67 a/79 a, a list of corresponding ownershipindicator 57 b/67 b/79 b, a list of corresponding component history 57c/67 c/79 c, and a list of corresponding cost specifications 57 d/67d/79 d as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7.

The contract specification 57 a/76 a/79 a states the information to beprovided by a service component 36, system component 40 or resourcecomponent 44 by another corresponding service component 36, systemcomponent 40 or resource component 44 respectively for the accessing ofthe same former.

An application of the contract specification 57 a/67 a/79 a isillustrated using a hypertext transfer protocol (HTFP) server (notshown). This HTTP server example, an Apache HTTP server's (not shown)system component 40 requires a valid alias and a root directory locationto be specified for access thereto. The valid alias and root directorylocation requirements are stated in the contract specification 67 a ofthe system profile 58 associated with the system component 40 of theApache HTTP server. Therefore, a service component 36 of an Enterpriseserver (not shown) requiring access to the system component 40 of theApache HTTP server has to be provided with information required by thecontract specification 67 a thereof. The service component 36 of theEnterprise server then provides the Apache HTTP server with the requiredvalid alias and the root directory location to the system component 40of the Apache HTTP server for access of the same thereby in accordanceto the association requirements 52 of the service profile 48 of theservice component 36.

The ownership indicator 57 b/76 b/79 b indicates one or more owners ofthe service component 36, system component 40 or resource component 44and the relative priority that each owner has over the respectiveservice component 36, system component 40 or resource component 44 basedon the configuration of the deployment. The owner is one or more of anycombination of a system including the host system 20, a clusterincluding the service cluster 38, system cluster 42 and resource cluster46, and a component including the service component 36, system component40 and resource component 44.

The component history 57 c/67 c/79 c of a component, for example theservice component 36, system component 40 or resource component 44,tracks the current and past configurations the component is deployedupon. The component history 57 c/67 c/79 c further reflects thedependency of other components on the component. The component history57 c/67 c/79 c is further used for restoring and archiving of deployedcomputing systems. This enables any corruption to the computing systemor the components therein to be rectified by enabling redeployment orrestoration of the computing system to its most recent pre-corruptedstate.

The ownership indicator 57 b/67 b/79 b and component history 57 c/67c/79 c are applicable within a system, for example, System A (notshown). In this example, Component B, a system component 40, isconfigured using a first deployment configuration for use by System A.When another system, for example System C (not shown), requiresComponent B (not shown) to be configured using a second deploymentconfiguration for use thereby, the component history 67 c of Component Bis consulted upon. The component history 67 c indicates that System A isdepended thereon and configured under the first deploymentconfiguration. Next, the ownership indicator 76 b is checked for anyconfiguration conflict. If the first deployment configuration is inconflict with System B or the second deployment configuration is inconflict with System A, the relative priorities of both System A andSystem B are compared. If System A is declared as the main owner ofComponent B within the ownership indicator 76 b thereof and thereforehas a higher priority relative to System B, the first deploymentconfiguration is maintained and System B is restricted from configuringComponent B for use thereby. However, if there are no configurationconflicts between System C, Component B and System A, the associationrestrictions 64 of Component B is checked to ensure that System C is notprohibited from accessing Component B.

The list of cost specifications 57 d/67 d/79 d specifies thecorresponding cost of using each of the service components 36, systemcomponents 40 and resource components 44. The cost of using a componentincludes virtual memory usage (for example a random access memory orRAM), physical storage usage (for example a hard disk drive), thephysical storage expansion requirements with respect to time and thelike system resource requirements. The cost specifications 57 d/67 d/79d allow an administrator of a system to decide upon the viability ofinstalling a component or a cluster of components while considering thecurrent and future impact on system resource requirements if thecomponent is installed.

Referring to FIG. 8, a cluster profile 80 is associated with each ofservice cluster 38, system cluster 42 and resource cluster 46. Thecluster profile 80 contains a description 82 of an associated cluster,and a function descriptor 84 defining the function of correspondingservice components 36, system components 40 and resource components 44contained therein. This allows any one of service component 36, systemcomponent 40 or resource component 44 having similar functions to begrouped together in a single cluster.

A resource map 88 is associated with the resource layer 34 as shown inFIG. 1. FIG. 9 shows a block diagram representing the resource map 88.Referring to FIG. 9, the resource map 88 is shown containing a resourceaddress list 90 indicating the locations of all the resource components44 allocated in the resource layer 34 and a resource dependency list 92indicating the system components 40 associated with each resourcecomponent 44.

A service map 94 is associated with the service layer 30 as shown inFIG. 1. FIG. 10 shows a block diagram representing the service map 94.Referring to FIG. 10, the service map 94 is shown containing a systemaddress list 96 indicating the locations of all the system components 40allocated to the system layer 36 and a system dependency list 98indicating the service components 36 associated with each systemcomponent 40.

Prior to the deployment of the computing system onto a host system 20, adeployment manager 100 residing in the host system 20, as shown in FIG.1, analyses the computing system and the service components 36associated therewith. The service components 36 are installable servicecomponents for deployment onto the host system 20. The deploymentmanager 100 is preferably operated by an administrator of the hostsystem 20.

The association requirements 52 for each service component 36 areobtained from the associated service profile 48. The system components40 available in the system layer 32 of the host system 20 are matchedwith the association requirements 52 of the service components 36. Ifany of the system components 40 specified in the associationrequirements 52 are not available on the host system 20, theadministrator is immediately prompted for further instructions. If theassociation requirements 52 are satisfied, the association restrictions62 of the required system components 40 are checked for any conflictsbetween the system components 40 and service components 36 to beinstalled.

Availability of information required is assessed in accordance to thecorresponding contract specification 57 a/67 a of the service components36 and system components 36. If information is inadequate, thedeployment manager 100 prompts the administrator to provide thedeployment manager 100 with more information.

If no conflict arises, the deployment manager 100 proceeds to deploy thecomputing system onto the host system 20. The host system 20 typicallyincludes one or more physical systems deployed within or across multiplegeographical locations, for example, an instance of a single computingsystem having multiple computing nodes. First, a new service cluster 38is generated in the service layer 30 to accommodate the servicecomponents 36 provided by the computing system if the required servicecluster 38 is unavailable. A cluster profile 80 is also generated forthe new service cluster 38 for association with the newly generatedservice cluster 38. Next, the service components 36 and their associatedservice profiles are deployed onto the service layer 30. The description82 of the new service cluster 38 and the function descriptor 84 withinthe cluster profile 80 are updated in accordance to the informationcontained in the service profiles 48 of the service components 36.

Based on the description 50 of the service components 36, the deploymentmanager identifies an adaptor 102 required for deploying the servicecomponents 36. The adaptor 102 shown in FIG. 1 is a computingsystem-specific module for performing the actual deployment of theservice components 36. If the adaptor 102 is not supplied with thecomputing system, the deployment manager 100 proceeds to use a genericadaptor 102 contained in an adaptor repository 104 of the host system 20shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the adaptor 102 is downloadable from asystem network or the Internet maintained by a component vendor or athird party component and adaptor supplier. Once the adaptor 102 isidentified and present, the deployment manager 100 invokes the adaptor102 to proceed with the deployment of the service components 36 of thecomputing system onto the host system 20. The adapter 102 furtherperforms checks and operations to fine-tune system performance and thelike vendor specific operations. Once the service components 36 havebeen deployed onto the service layer 30, the deployment manager 100proceeds to associate the service components 36 with the systemcomponents 40 based on the corresponding association requirements 52 andthe contract specification 57 a. The ownership indicator 57 b of eachservice component 36 is also assessed for any deployment conflict.

Next, the service address list 96 of the service map 94 is updated withthe locations of the newly deployed service components 36 within thehost system 20, for example, an instance of the aforementioned computingsystem with multiple computing nodes. The service dependency list 98 ofthe service map 94 is also updated with the new associations between theservice components 36 and the system component 40. All activitiesundertaken by the deployment manager 100 to deploy the computing systemonto the host system 20 is recorded in a deployment profile 106. Thecomponent history 57 c/67 c/79 c of each corresponding servicecomponents 36, system components 40 and resource components 44 areupdated with the new associations and configurations derived therefrom.

The deployment manager 100 allows the administrator to test theviability of configuring and deploying a specific computing system ontothe host system 20. Furthermore, the cost specifications 57 d/67 d/79 dallows the administrator to assess current and future resourcerequirements for the deployment. This preventive approach is preferredover a rectification approach of trying to solve a compatibility problemonly after the deployment of the computing system onto the host system20.

During the life of the computing system, changes are made to servicecomponents 36, the system components 40, resource components 44 andassociations therebetween. The request for these changes are monitoredand verified by the deployment manager 100 which readily updates one ormore of the affected service profiles 48, system profiles 58, resourceprofile 70, cluster profile 80, resource map 88 and service map 94.

When a need arises for a component (for example the service component36, system component 40 or resource component 44), the components withina cluster (the service cluster 38, system cluster 42 or resource cluster46), a cluster, or a computing system to be migrated from the hostsystem 20 to a new system (not shown), system integrity has to bemaintained for both the host system 20 and the new system. The firstphase of migrating the computing system requires that all its servicecomponents 36 and its associated components be duplicated on the newsystem. Using the cluster profile 80 of the service cluster 38containing the service components 36 of the computing system, theassociated service profiles 48 and system profiles 58 are used forduplicating the configuration of the computing system in the host system20 onto the new system. This allows any changes made to the servicecomponents 36 of the computing system to be maintained in the new systemwithout the need for manual reconfiguration of a fresh deployment of thecomputing system onto the new system.

Once the computing system is deployed onto the new system, the secondphase of migrating the computing system requires the removal of theservice components 36 residing in the host system 20. In order for thesystem integrity of the host system to be maintained, the deploymentmanager has to utilise the information stored within the deploymentprofile 106 of the computing system and the component history 57 c/67c/79 c of each corresponding service component 36, system component 40and resource component 44. Furthermore, removal of the computing systemrequires information from the service map 94, the resource map 88 andthe ownership indicators 57 b/67 b/79 c. This prevents componentsassociated with other computing systems from being removed during themigration process.

In the foregoing manner, a computing system deployment method isdescribed according to an embodiment of the invention for addressing theforegoing disadvantages of conventional computing system deploymentmethods. Although only one embodiment of the invention is disclosed, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of this disclosurethat numerous changes and/or modification can be made without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention.

1. A computing system deployment hod method comprising steps of:providing a system layer on a host system; defining a plurality ofsystem clusters in the system layer; allocating a plurality of systemcomponents to the plurality of system clusters, each system clustercontaining at least one system components; providing a service layer onthe host system; defining a plurality of service clusters in the servicelayer; allocating a plurality of service components to the pluralityservice clusters, each service cluster containing at least one servicecomponent; and associating each service component in each servicecluster with at least one system component.
 2. The computing systemdeployment method as in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:associating a service profile with each service component, the serviceprofile comprising a description of the service component, at least oneassociation requirement, at least one association restriction, and atleast one contract specification, the contract specification indicatingat least one parameter required by the services component forassociation thereto; associating a service cluster profile with eachservice cluster, the service cluster profile comprising a description ofthe service components allocated to each service cluster.
 3. Thecomputing system deployment method as in claim 2, further comprising thesteps of: providing a resource layer on the host system; defining aplurality of resource clusters in the resource layer; allocating aplurality of physical components to the plurality of physical resourceclusters, each physical resource cluster containing at least onephysical component; and associating each physical component in eachphysical resource cluster with at least one system component.
 4. Thecomputing system deployment method as in claim 3, further comprising thestep of: associating a system profile with each system component, thesystem profile comprising a description of the system component, atleast one association requirement, at least one association restriction,and at least one contract specification, the contract specificationindicating at least one parameter required by the service component forassociation thereto.
 5. The computing system deployments method as inclaim 4, further comprising the steps of: associating a service clusterprofile with each service cluster, the service cluster profiledescribing the general function of the service components allocated toeach service cluster; associating a system cluster profile with eachsystem cluster, the system cluster profile describing the generalfunction of the system components allocated to each system cluster; andassociating a resource cluster profile with each resource cluster, theresource cluster profile describing the general function of the resourcecomponents allocated to each resource cluster.
 6. The computing systemdeployment method as in claim 5, further comprising the step of:associating a resource profile with each resource component, theresource profile comprising a description of the resource component, atleast one association requirement, at least one association restriction,and at least one contract specification, the contract specificationindicating at least one parameter required by the service component forassociation thereto.
 7. The computing system deployment method as inclaim 6, further comprising the steps of: providing a resource mapassociated with each resource layer, the resource map indicating tophysical locality of the resource components within the host system andthe system components associated with each resource component; andproviding a service map associated with the service layer, each servicemap indicating the physical locality of each system component within thehost system and the service components associated with each systemcomponent.
 8. The computing system deployment method as in claim 7,further comprising the steps of: providing a computing system, thecomputing system comprising a plurality of deployable service componentsfor deployment on the host system; analysing the service profile of eachdeployable service component of the computing system, the serviceprofile indicating the association requirements of each deployableservice component, the association requirements identifying the servicecomponents and system components required to the host system; anddiscovering on the host system the availability of the servicecomponents and the system components required by the deployable servicecomponents.
 9. The computing system deployment method as in claim 8,further comprising the step of: analysing the association restrictionsand contract specification of the service components and the systemcomponents required by each deployable service component.
 10. Thecomputing system deployment method as in claim 9, further comprising thesteps of: discovering on the host system the availability of the systemcomponents and the resource components required by each system componentfor association with each deployable service component; and analysingthe association requirements, association restrictions and contractspecification of each system component and each resource componentrequired by the system components for association with each deployableservice component.
 11. The computing system deployment method as inclaim 10, further comprising the step of: deploying the deployableservice components in the service layer of the host system; allocatingeach deployable service component to service clusters based on thedescription in the service profile of the deployable service component;establishing an association between each deployable service componentand at least one of service components and system, components; updatingthe association between the service components in the service layer andthe system components in the system layer; updating the associationbetween the system components in the system layer and the resourcecomponents in the resource layer; and updating a deployment profile inthe host system based on the deployment of the deployable servicecomponent and the updates of associated therein.
 12. A computing systemdeployment model comprising: a system layer provided on a host system; aplurality of system clusters defined in the system layer; a plurality ofsystem components allocated to the plurality of system clusters, eachsystem cluster containing at least one system component; a service layerprovided on the host system; a plurality of service clusters defined inthe service layer; and a plurality of service components allocated tothe plurality of service clusters, each service cluster containing atleast one service component, wherein each service component in eachservice cluster is associated with at least one system component. 13.The computing system deployment model as in claim 12, furthercomprising: a service profile for association with each servicecomponent, the service profile comprising a description of the servicecomponent, at least one association requirement, at least oneassociation restriction, and at least one contract specification, thecontract specification indicating at least one parameter required by theservice component for association thereto; a service cluster profile forassociation with each service cluster, the service cluster profilecomprising a description of the service components allocated to eachservice cluster.
 14. The computing system deployment model as in claim13, further comprising: a resource layer provided on the host system; aplurality of resource clusters defined in the resource layer; and aplurality of physical components allocated to the plurality of physicalresource clusters, each physical resource cluster containing at leastone physical component, wherein each physical component in each physicalresource cluster is associated with at least one system component. 15.The computing system deployment model as in claim 14, furthercomprising: a system profile associated with each system component, thesystem profile comprising a description of the system component, atleast one association requirement, at least one association restriction,and at least one contract specification, the contract specificationindicating at least one parameter required by the service component forassociation thereto.
 16. The computing system deployments model as inclaim 15, further comprising: a service cluster profile for associationwith each service cluster, the service cluster profile describing thegeneral function of the service components allocated to each servicecluster; a system cluster profile for association with each systemcluster, the system cluster profile describing the general function ofthe system components allocated to each system cluster; and a resourcecluster profile for association with each resource cluster, the resourcecluster profile describing the general function of the resourcecomponents allocated to each resource cluster.
 17. The computing systemdeployment model as in claim 16, further comprising: a resource profilefor association with each resource component, the resource profilecomprising a description of the resource component, at least oneassociation requirement, at least one association restriction, and atleast one contract specification, the contract specification indicatingat least one parameter required by the service component for associationthereto.
 18. The computing system deployment model as in claim 17,further comprising: a resource map for association with each resourcelayer, the resource map indicating the physical locality of the resourcecomponents within the host system and the system components associatedwith each resource component; and a service map for association with theservice layer, each service map indicating the physical locality of eachsystem component within the host system and the service componentsassociated with each system component.
 19. The computing systemdeployment model as in claim 18, further comprising: a computing system,the computing system comprising a plurality of deployable servicecomponents for deployment onto the host system, wherein the serviceprofile of each deployable service component of the computing systemindicates the association requirements of each deployable servicecomponent, the association requirements identifying the servicecomponents and system components required on the host system fordeployment thereby.
 20. The computing system deployment model as inclaim 19, further comprising the means for: discovering on the hostsystem the availability of the service components and the systemcomponents required by the deployable service components.
 21. Thecomputing system deployment model as in claim 20, further comprising themeans for: analysing the association restrictions and the contractspecification of the service components and the system componentsrequired by each deployable service component.
 22. The computing systemdeployment model as in claim 21, further comprising the means for:discovering on the host system the availability of the system componentsand the resource components required by each system component forassociation with each deployable service component; and analysing theassociation requirements, association restrictions, and contractspecification of each system component and each resource componentrequired by the system components for association with each deployableservice component.
 23. The computing system deployment method as inclaim 22, further comprising the means for: deploying the deployableservice components in the service layer of the host system; allocatingeach deployable service component to service clusters based on thedescription in the service profile of the deployable service components;establishing an association between each deployable service componentand at least one of service components and system components; updatingthe associations between the service components in the service layer andthis system components in the system layer; updating the associationsbetween the system components in the system later and the resourcecomponents in the resource layer; and updating a deployment profile inthe host system based on the deployment of the deployable servicecomponents and the updates of association therein.